Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1887-07-02
FOURTH OF JULY.

Before THE DEMOCRAT issues again the
Nation will have heart and soul in the
celebration of the one hundred-and-
eleventh anniversary of its birth, day
which always has been and always will
be honored so long as there is true
American left on earth. 1t is not neces-
sary to indulge in sentimentality over an
occasion OF this kind-the day has made
its own record, it has its own memories,
its own influences, its own inspirations
and it needs no words to bring up the
proper thoughts in the minds of the
Nations sons and daughters.
The day we celebrate now is the same
day our ancestors celebrated q hundred
years ago, the same day that will be cele-
brated hundred and a thousand years
hence, and in this fact alone there is
ample material for thought 1t is not
merely the small boy with his toy
cannon, his torpedoes and his fire.
crackers who fells the patriotic in
Auence OF this day; it is not only the
impetuous youth who, having read his
country's history and rejoiced in its
great past, catches the inspiration from
the reverberations of the celebrating
gun; it is not only the old man, carried
back in memory to the grand old csle-
brations Of an earlier day, who is filled
on this occasion with reverence for his
nation and its dead heroes, but it
Is everyone-man and woman,
boy and girl, all catch the
spirit OF the day and all rejoice in
unity which smothers petty spites and
lays aside all feelings and thoughts that
are not as noble and unselfsh as the
patriotism that conceived the Republics
birth.
1t is customary at such a time to re-
view the work which lead up to the ma
terialization of what had always
been mythical ideal - an
sir-castle of State. The history of this
work is too familiar to need especial men.
ton. Every boy who has reached his
teens knows by heart--or should know
the whole story from Lexington to York
town, the story Of hsrdships, Of defeats,
OF temporary successes and of the final
grand triumph. 1t is not story OF brill
iantly planned battles or of well-en-
gineered campaigns, it is simple
tale of hard work, of courage rather than
bravery, of perseverance rather than
skill. And it was not the mental, or
even the physical work that counted SO
much in that struggle; it was the moral
force, the stamina and the determine
tion that led to success, and under the
circumstances which brought on the war
it was only natural that this-and moth
ing but this--should be triumphant.
1t was not the venting
OF single days anger,
it was not the resentment of single
insult, it was not the vindicatIon of sim
gle wrong. 1t was the bursting forth of a
just indignation for years pent up anger,
the determination to avenge the wrongs of
half century, the desire to end forever
the strife which made slaves of the best
class Of men on earth, and as such
it was only natural that it should
come as it did, with all the
the moral force that God gives good men,
at its back. Then when the strife was
ended, there was cause for rejoicing,
there was justification for the pride
which filed the hearts Of the heroes aud
there was a grateful acknowledgement of
Gods goodness in the praises which
went up to heaven.
1t is good that the men who gained
Americas liberty did rejoice on the
Nations natal day, and it is good that
their children have rejoiced on every an
niversary since.
The day has always been held sacred
and, while the celebration is one Of re-
joicing, it is also one of thanksgiving
and one of prayer. The Fourth Of July
has been celebrated in the later history
of the country. 1t was on that day that
Grant gained his overwhelming victory
at Vicksburg, the greatest triumph of
the campaign in the west, the victory
which placed its leader where he could
finally end the war. 1t was on that day
that the Confederate forces were obliged
to retreat from Gettysburg, the field
where the greatest battle of the war,
and one OF the greatest battles
Of all history, was fought. 1t
was, then, the day Of days in
our civil strife as we'll as in
the Revolution, and as such there is a
double glory in it. 1t was the day when
after the hard fight at Gettysburg the
Confederacy began to wane, but in spite
Of that it is still celebrated by South as
well as North, and should, therefore, by
all means, be a day for forgetting our
great internal conflict.
Let it be celebrated in this city as in all
the land as day of salvation for saint
and sinner, time for rejoicing for good
and bad, day with no other sentiment
than Long life to the Union," borrow
Ing from Christmas those sacred words,
"Peace on earth, good will to man."